In the drilling and completion industry, the formation of boreholes for the purpose of production or injection of fluids is commons. The boreholes are used for exploration or extraction of natural resources such as hydrocarbons, oil, gas, water, and CO2 sequestration. In the construction of the borehole, it is normally necessary to fill and/or seal at least certain critical sections between casings or casing and open hole with cement. In order for cement to seal at critical points, there must be a completely effective mud displacement by the cement. If the annular space is not filled with cement or if the cement loses bulk volume during the hydration process, then the uncemented sections may form a leak path for gas or oil. In addition to poor displacement and cement bulk volume losses, the cement sheath may be damaged by thermal effects or pressure fluctuations.
An existing technique for sealing the unwanted flow paths formed within the cement sheath includes the use of a reactive or swelling material that reacts with either oil or water to swell and seal the flow paths. However, a limitation of this method is a lack of control of the activation or swell rate of these elements in contact with oil, water, or cement. Other methods such as swellable elastomers on openhole expandable systems completely avoid the use of cement to eliminate the problems of channeling, however they also do not benefit from the advantageous properties of cement, such as low cost, ease of use, and predictable hardening properties.